India Commissions New Anti-Submarine Vessel for Coastal Defense

The Indian Navy officially inducted the second Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft (ASW-SWC) into service, INS Androth, at the Naval Dockyard in Visakhapatnam. The vessel, designed to locate and eliminate threats underwater in coastal areas, considerably extends India’s maritime security capabilities.

INS Androth, a new-generation, highly agile warship, is a ship that is unable to operate in shallow waters without some assistance like the area around Androth Island in the Lakshadweep archipelago, hence the need for such a ship. The ship has been locally built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers, Kolkata, with a focus on 80 per cent indigenous content that highlights India’s increasing naval self-reliance.

The ship is 77 meters long and displaces 1,500 tonnes. It comes with three diesel-powered waterjet propulsion systems, advanced sonar, integrated surveillance suites, and state-of-the-art weaponry for precision sub-surface strikes.

The ship’s mainstay will be to locate and destroy hostile submarines, though it is capable of undertaking maritime surveillance, coastal defence, search-and-rescue operations, and low-intensity maritime missions as well.

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The newly inducted INS Androth is one of the most valuable additions to the already available anti-submarine fleet in India. The indigenously built ASW-SWC helps in closing the gap of near-shore operations along the Indian coastline of 11,000+ km where the Boeing P-8I patrol aircraft, Kamorta-class corvettes, and MH-60R multi-role helicopters cannot reach easily.

The commissioning ceremony of the ship was held amid the presence of Vice Admiral Rajesh Pendharkar, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command, at Visakhapatnam which stands as another important landmark in India’s progression towards state-of-the-art, locally-built naval technologies, and resilient coastal defence.